We have a large garden in semi-rural Leicestershire. This blog is about what we do and what's happening out there because of - or in spite of - our rather amateur gardening efforts. We grow vegetables, we have an orchard with apples, plums and pears, as well as an extensive ornamental garden. Surrounded by fields we enjoy many species of birds, frogs & toads and occasional foxes and other four-legged visitors. Enjoy!

Wednesday, 30 November 2011

Cold sunny day

A beautiful autumn day - sunny but cold. There aren't many leaves left on the trees now. We cleared a lot of leaves at the weekend, especially the heavy leaves from the magnolia which tend to just lie on the lawn and kill the grass.

There are a few snowdrops beginning to push up under the trees and in the lawn. maybe Spring isn't so far away. But I'm reminded that this time last year we had inches of snow that didn't clear till after Christmas.
Every year we've been here has had a different pattern of weather. This year was very, very dry and with this following last winter's minus 20degrees spell we lost quite a lot of plants. Unlike most of the country we had a very bad fruit harvest this year. Only 1 of 6 apple trees produced any, even the reliable crab apple failed to produce, and we had no plums and no pears. There was plenty of blossom so maybe it was the cold wind or the lack of rain or lack of bees. Lets hope next year is better.